How do you know if clothes are going to permanently stretch/bag out?

I've been happily wearing my Bailey 44 tiered stripe dress and other stretchy clothes and dresses from my pre-maternity wardrobe, but several of you are saying that you ruined some of your clothes by doing this and that they permanently stretched out. How do you know which ones will do this? So far the clothes I've worn seem to look exactly the same after I take them off (ie they don't look bagged out) and I don't hear any ripping sounds when I put them on. I was hoping to wear some of these clothes into third trimester, but should I stop wearing all my non-maternity clothes now? I think the B44 dresses are rayon and spandex, and I have other jersey type dresses that I've been wearing as well. I don't want to get a whole new wardrobe just for the next few months, but I don't want to ruin my wardrobe either!

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11 years ago

Anonymous

I don't know. The pieces that all got ruined for me were knit items. They didn't look stretched out until I wore them after pregnancy and didn't have the belly to fill them out. Sad droopy little pockets in the waist/belly.

I was actually surprised when I saw you in the Lolabelle dress because it is a knit. I love the dress on you now, totally love it, but I would be so afraid to change the shape. I don't have a clue on your question but I assume heavier fabrics, like the knit on the halogen pencil skirts, have better memory. I guess if you wear them only once in a while, it should be fine.

K. Period.

Veteran

I wore lots of my non-pregnant clothes through my pregnancy, but I was resigned to giving them up afterwards if they were knitted. Standard cotton knit tees, knit sweaters and dresses, almost anything that was a knit fabrication (yarn or jersey) stretched out and didn't return to normal size. I didn't matter that much if it had spandex in it or not. If you really love something, you have to commit to either wearing it infrequently or wearing it out entirely while pregnant. Otherwise, sadness.

Maybe you shouldn't worry about it and just wear them now. After the baby there will be a time before baby weight loss and by the time you get to your norm you will probably want new styles anyway.

shiny

What Tracina said! My comment was really about the black dress; it's such a classic, I have to imagine you could get years and years of use out of it, if you don't stretch it out. Whereas the second one may be more "enjoy it now" trend than classic.

Sylvie

Your clothes are there to serve you. If you have something you expect to last you five years (like the black dress) maybe skip wearing it. For the others, well, you've got pregancy + post partum time before you get back to your normal size. You may feel like you want new clothes in a year anyway. May as well wear them out and enjoy them while they're in style.

rute

I agree with Tracina too! The body will change and you'll want new styles a new pieces!

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